Danzón No. 2

Danzón No. 2 by Mexican composer Arturo Márquez found international fame in 2007 when Gustavo Dudamel and Venezuela’s Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra performed it during a triumphant tour of North America and Europe. The piece was originally written for and first performed in 1994 by the Orquesta Filarmónica de la UNAM, Mexico City’s oldest symphony orchestra. Danzón No. 2 celebrates the irresistible rhythms of the Cuban slow dance, the danzón, on which its opening is based. Marquez drew inspiration for the work on a visit to Veracruz, where “El danzón” first took hold in the 1870s. His score is introduced by sultry solos for clarinet and oboe, with the laidback danzón rhythm tapped out on wooden claves. It takes flight with a lively dance for full orchestra propelled by snappy syncopations and punctuated by standout solos for piccolo and trumpet. The piece has reached countless young players in various arrangements, Oliver Nickel’s version for symphonic wind band prominent among them.